🔗 Share this article

A significant part of the allure of the Final Fantasy crossover collection for *Magic: The Gathering* is the way numerous cards narrate well-known stories. Consider Tidus, Blitzball Star, which gives a glimpse of the protagonist at the beginning of *Final Fantasy 10*: a renowned professional athlete whose key technique is a specialized shot that knocks a defender out of the way. The gameplay rules represent this in nuanced ways. These kinds of narrative is found across the complete Final Fantasy set, and not all joyful stories. Several act as poignant callbacks of tragedies fans remember vividly years after.

"Powerful tales are a key part of the Final Fantasy legacy," wrote a senior game designer involved with the collaboration. "They created some broad guidelines, but finally, it was mostly on a individual level."

Though the Zack Fair card isn't a tournament staple, it represents one of the collection's most elegant pieces of storytelling via rules. It artfully echoes one of *Final Fantasy 7*'s most crucial story moments with great effect, all while leveraging some of the product's core systems. And while it doesn't spoil anything, those who know the tale will quickly recognize the emotional weight within it.

The Card's Design: Flavor in Rules

At a cost of one white mana (the color of good) in this collection, Zack Fair enters with a base power and toughness of 0/1 but comes into play with a +1/+1 token. By spending one colorless mana, you can destroy the card to give another creature you control indestructible and transfer all of Zack’s markers, as well as an Equipment, onto that other creature.

This design paints a moment FF fans are extremely remember, a moment that has been reimagined throughout the years — in the original *FF7*, *Crisis Core*, and even new iterations in *FF7 Remake*. Yet it resonates powerfully here, conveyed solely through gameplay mechanics. Zack makes the ultimate sacrifice to save Cloud, who then inherits the Buster Sword as his own.

A Spoiler for the Moment

A bit of backstory, and here is your *FF7* warning: Prior to the main events of the game, Zack and Cloud are severely injured after a clash with Sephiroth. After years of experimentation, the friends manage to escape. The entire time, Cloud is comatose, but Zack ensures to take care of his comrade. They finally arrive at the plains outside Midgar before Zack is killed by troops. Abandoned, Cloud in that moment claims Zack’s Buster Sword and assumes the persona of a first-class SOLDIER, leading directly into the start of *FF7*.

Simulating the Moment on the Battlefield

Through gameplay, the abilities effectively let you reenact this entire event. The Buster Sword is a a strong piece of equipment in the collection that costs three mana and gives the equipped creature +3/+2. Therefore, using six mana, you can make Zack into a solid 4/6 with the Buster Sword attached.

The Cloud Strife card also has intentional synergy with the Buster Sword, enabling you to look through your library for an weapon card. When used in tandem, these pieces play out in this way: You summon Zack, and he receives the +1/+1 counter. Then you cast Cloud to pull the Buster Sword from your deck. Then you play and equip it to Zack.

Because of the manner Zack’s signature action is designed, you can technically use it in the middle of battle, meaning you can “block” an assault and trigger it to negate the attack altogether. Therefore, you can make this play at a key moment, passing the +1/+1 counter *and* the Buster Sword to Cloud. He is transformed into a formidable 6/4 that, each time he does damage a player, lets you gain card advantage and play two cards without paying their mana cost. This is precisely the kind of moment alluded to when discussing “flavorful design” — not spoiling the scene, but letting the card design evoke the memory.

Beyond the Central Synergy

But the flavor here is incredibly rich, and it reaches past just this combo. The Jenova, Ancient Calamity is part of the collection as a creature that, at the start of combat, puts a number of +1/+1 counters on a target creature, which then becomes a Mutant. This kind of hints that Zack’s starting +1/+1 token is, in a way, the SOLDIER treatment he received, which included modification with Jenova cells. It's a small nod, but one that cleverly connects the whole SOLDIER program to the +1/+1 counter mechanic in the expansion.

The card does not depict his demise, or Cloud’s breakdown, or the stormy cliff where it happens. It does not need to. *Magic* enables you to reenact the legacy yourself. You choose the ultimate play. You hand over the sword on. And for a short instant, while playing a trading card game, you remember why *Final Fantasy 7* is still the most impactful game in the series ever made.